The Hong Kong employer was jailed for 18 weeks for illegally hiring four Indonesian women as waitresses in his restaurant

An Indonesian asylum seeker pleaded guilty in the Sha Tin Magistrates’ Court on Monday for working illegally and was jailed for 15 months, while a Hong Kong man was jailed for 18 weeks for illegally hiring four Indonesian women as waitresses in his restaurant.

The 33-year-old Indonesian woman was arrested during an Immigration Department raid in November last year in Tuen Mun, the New Territories, according to a government release.

The woman was found washing dishes in a company. After checking, the woman could only provide a recognizance form, which allows her temporary stay in Hong Kong but prohibits her from taking any employment.

Further checks found the woman was an asylum seeker.

Meanwhile, the Hong Kong man was sentenced to 18 weeks for hiring four Indonesian women to work in his restaurant, according to another government release.

Officers from the Immigration Department raided a restaurant in Kowloon’s Tsim Sha Tsui in November last year and arrested four illegal workers who were later sentenced to jail.

The local employer was arrested and charged with four counts of illegal hiring. He pleaded guilty at the Sha Tin Magistrates Court on January 4 and was sentenced to nine weeks’ imprisonment for each count.

Parts of the sentences were to run consecutively, making a total of 18 weeks’ imprisonment.

In addition, the company holding the restaurant was also charged with four counts of employing a person not lawfully employable and was fined HK$22,000 (US$2,806) for each count, making a total fine of HK$88,000.